Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed on Friday, March 10, 2023. Government officials scrambled to reassure the public their deposits aren’t in danger. Are they? At the larger banks, at least, probably not. To begin with, the FDIC insures individual depositors against up to $250,000 of losses. This[...]
Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
March 5th, 2023 - 5:51 pm § in America, Biden, China, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economics, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Hypocrisy, News Media, Politics, Republicans, Russia
Fact-checking Trump’s CPAC lies
Journalist, pesky creatures they are, like to fact-check political speeches. CNN says Trump delivered a “doozy” at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C. on Saturday, March 4, 2023 (see story here). By now, his M.O. is familiar: Portray America as a post-a[...]
Homes for 30% off? Not likely!
Millions of Americans plan to buy homes at 2013 prices this year, The Hill reported on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 (read story here). Good luck with that. These shoppers hope to spend an average of $269,000 for a home; but the media U.S. home price last month topped $388,000. Why is there a $119,000 d[...]
Why are there no eggs?
Two words: Bird flu. A few households in my neighborhood have chicken coops, but it doesn’t strike me as a cost-effective way to get eggs. But in a time of egg shortage, at least they have eggs. For more about what’s going on, watch the videos below. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
Which party runs up the debt may surprise you
This happens for a couple reasons. First, Republicans don’t spend less than Democrats; they just spend on different stuff. Second, government revenues suffer when Republicans slash taxes for the rich. Their latest gambit: Repeal IRS funding to catch rich tax cheaters. Third, it’s part of[...]
The right’s war against “woke” is based on a discredited 1941 book
And Elon Musk is its knight in shining armor. The book, by James Burnham (1905-1987; bio here), a New York University academic and political theorist, is “The Managerial Revolution: What Is Happening in the World” (you can get it here). Nearly all of Burnham’s sweeping predictions [...]
“Wall Street should not be any family’s landlord”
Wall Street profiteers crashed the housing market with subprime snake oil, then scooped up vast numbers of single-family homes (SFRs) at foreclosure prices, and now they’re gouging tenants with exorbitant rents. High shelter costs are a major component of the inflation now ravaging ordinary wo[...]
Laissez faire capitalism in Arizona
Arizona is a desert state, everyone knows that, and its share of Colorado River water is inadequate for its cities and farms. What does that leave? Groundwater, which isn’t regulated. Now let’s visit Wenden, a town in southwestern Arizona, next door to a giant farm owned by a Saudi compa[...]
Biden’s political theater on gas prices
Biden is threatening “to pursue higher taxes on oil company profits if industry giants do not work to cut gas prices,” CNBC reported on Monday, October 31, 2022 (read story here). This is political theater, nothing more, to make it look like he’s fighting high gas prices. It lacks [...]
A GOP House will mean chaos
Voters are understandably unhappy about inflation and gas prices, but electing a GOP House majority won’t solve those problems, and would unleash chaos. The Democrats probably would fare better in pre-election polling if Biden were popular, and I would argue he deserves to be more popular than[...]